Experience a Day in the Life of a Trans Character in “Acceptance”

Acceptance, a remake of a Twine game, is a game about the struggles of being trans in a hostile and often violent world. Some routes depict suicide, sexual assault, and violence. All routes contain transphobia. Made by a trans woman and adapted into a visual novel format, the game opens by asking: Are you a man or a woman?

Whatever you choose, the answer is always the same. You’re wrong. You might know what you are, but how long can you hold onto your identity when the world rejects it? Acceptance follows a single day in the life of a trans character. The game is targeting cisgender audiences exclusively, to try and promote awareness of how challenging society makes being transgender.

The game is short and rudimentary, the text reading as though it were copy-pasted from the original format. I haven’t been able to find a copy of the original Twine game, so I can’t really compare. Sadly, the graphics are fairly lacking, but they don’t detract from the overall message and story.

Obviously, no one is (or should be) surprised that it’s hard to be trans, but the greatest strength of video games has always been the medium’s ability to force empathy. Seeing that strength used to help people who are otherwise marginalized and ignored can only be for the good.